Friday, September 3, 2010

"Clinton" Fire on the Santa Rosa Plateau

Here we go again. A sobering reminder that fire season in California is ever present. We were driving back from work southbound on I-15 around 3:40pm on Wednesday, Sept. 1st near Lake Elsinore, when we heard on the radio of an 80-acre fire on the Santa Rosa Plateau that had shut down Clinton Keith Road in Murrieta. Crap (and other choice epithets). No way. That's the main, at least wholly paved, way for us to get home.


My sole concern at that moment was for our pooch, Hana. I didn't care if our house burned down, as long as Hana was safe. Anyways, we hoped for the best, and drove up Clinton Keith Road to the road block at Bear Creek. We spoke to a lady there who informed us that the fire was about 20% contained and that it was burning in the vicinity of the visitor center in a southwesterly direction away from La Cresta, so that was a good thing. However, as the fire was also burning along the roadside, no one, including residents, would be allowed beyond that point for at least the next two hours. 


Feeling relieved that Hana would be ok, we headed out to Albertson's supermarket about a mile down the road and hung out there for a couple hours until we saw a CDF water truck pull into the parking lot. Gil talked to the fire fighters from that truck and they told him that residents were now allowed to go back into La Cresta via police escort. 


We drove back up Clinton Keith and parked in queue with the line of cars trying to get into the Plateau. The going was slow, as only one lane was open, but we finally made it back home later in the evening. Not too bad, all things considered.


Link to the fire incident page on Riverside County Fire Department's website: http://tcfireweb.co.riverside.ca.us/firepio/process?action=viewIncidentHtml&id=26516

Here's footage of the fire from Valley News Network:





I had a Flip Video on me, so took the following footage as we trailed our CHP escort up the road. My voice is pretty hoarse (I almost sound like a dude) as I'm into my 3rd week of an allergy-induced cough/near laryngitis. But at least I can still talk! (much to Gilbert's chagrin, heh, heh...)

   

The fire was contained by late afternoon the next day and total acreage burned revised down to 65 acres. Not sure how the visitor center has fared, but the charred hillsides along Clinton Keith Road are a sad sight to see. We were just out hiking behind the visitor center last Sunday along Waterline Road and I'm really anxious to know if any portion of that trail was burned. There were some wonderful blooms & fruiting shrubs along there, including California Goldenrod, Southern Honeysuckle,  Narrowleaf Milkweed, Bristly Bird's Beak, California Aster, and Hollyleaf Redberry. At this time, cause of the fire is still under investigation.


9/6/10 POSTSCRIPT:
A ranger told us (unofficially) that the fire was caused by one of the contractors working on the renovation behind the Visitor Center. All it takes is a backhoe or tractor hitting some rock to ignite a spark onto tinder-dry brush. The only trail closures were the portion of the Granite Loop Trail behind the Visitor Center and Cole Canyon Trail. The bulk of Granite Loop Trail, Waterline Road, and Vista Grande Trail were unaffected. 


9/6/10 Point of origin of the fire behind the visitor center. 

9/6/10 Cal Fire back on scene, probably to complete the investigation into the cause of the fire. 

9/6/10 Trail closure at Granite Loop Trail.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.


9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.


9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.


9/6/10 It was a steep and hot trail to begin with, but look at it now. Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

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9/6/10 Gil checking out the burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.


9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area across from La Cresta turnoff on Clinton Keith Road.

9/6/10 Burn area as seen along Clinton Keith Road.

7 comments:

  1. It must be tough to live with the threat each year. Glad your doggie was safe!

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  2. So glad all was well at home and that Hana was safe. Its not that long since your last fire - but I suppose its always at the back of your mind considering how dry your landscape is. I really hope it wasn't started intentionally.

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  3. Well sis! Yikes WTF! Coco might have rum straight into the fire because he's like that. So glad you're ok. Let me know if they find out what happened. If it's arsonists that really sucks.

    Love EE

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  4. I hate this time of year. It's the one plus about our summer being cooler, as our last two fire seasons have been horrendous, and up here our fire season, so far, has been more sane. We had one wildland fire close to us (about 2 blocks away) a couple of months ago, but CDF planes squished it quickly. It was a good time to be sure we're prepared, with an evac plan. I'm glad you all are safe, and that Hana was safe too. I'm the same way, I just want my animals and family safe...for everything else there's insurance.

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  5. Thanks, Toemailer - our doggie was safe indeed, and very glad to see us home when we finally got there!

    Rosie, thank goodness it wasn't arson, but it still perturbs me that most of our fires here are started by mowing or heavy machinery that will easily spark fires in our dry landscape. When will they ever learn?

    EE, Coco is a ditz. But, alas, you always knew that. He and Hana are feline/canine doppelgangers with the same predilections in airheadedness. Sigh. Rum?

    Clare, you're right about the weather - it's been unseasonably cool, even though we had a few days of triple digits. All in all, that's helped to temper the severity of our fire incidents thus far. I remember October 2007 as one of the worst fire seasons ever, so I'm hoping for continued mild temps and lackluster Santa Ana winds this fall.

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  6. Glad to hear you came through okay. I'm not surprised it was a human-source fire. There was a report of a golfer's errant swing starting a fire when his club struck a rock. 80 acres is a lot, but fortunately it didn't expand way beyond that like some of the recent fires. Stay safe!

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  7. James, I myself always suspected golf was an errant sport. Kudos to our excellent firefighters, who tackled this one (and all others before it) with full force.

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